This book is intended for those who have either a fleeting or nodding acquaintance with Hindu
thought or a curiosity about it, specially that part of it known as Advaita Vedanta, but have also
wondered whether this body of thought has anything to do with the daily experience of living. This
book makes the claim that-stripped bare of the Sanskrit language and the cultural idiom in which
it is expressed—this body of thought offers an analysis of life which bears a direct relevance to
our daily business of living. The relevance is in fact so direct that no Sanskrit word other than
Advaita itself may be required in expounding it, and no authority at all need be invoked in
elaborating it except that of experience; the experience of those of whom it may be claimed that
they have actually undergone the experience which the body of thought seeks to explore. In the
pages of this book the reader will encounter only five major terms or names with which the reader
may not already be familiar: Advaita Vedanta (Advaita for short); Sankara, Ramana and
Nisargadatta.

The word Vedanta refers to a body of texts which form the concluding section of the Hindu
scripture known as the Veda, just as the Revelation of St. ]ohn constitutes the concluding section
of the Bible. Advaita Vedanta indicates one of the many systematic philosophical expositions which
these texts have generated within Hinduism. This particular exposition, developed by the exegete
Sankara•—(788—820), upholds the conclusion that in the final analysis the ultimate reality about
the universe is a unity entirely indivisible and hence non-dual: this is the meaning of the word
Advaita. This non-dual reality can be directly experienced.

Ramana (1879-1950) and Nisargadatta (1897-1981) are two figures of modern India about whom it has
been claimed that an encounter with this reality made an "experience able difference" to their
lives. While Ramana is too well known to need an introduction, the life of Nisargadatta may be
presented in brief, as follows:
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was born in Bombay in 1897. His parents, who gave him the name Maruti,
had a small farm at the village of Kandalgaon and it was here that he spent his early years. In
1924 he married, later becoming a cigarette trader in Bombay where he and his wife raised a I
family. From early childhood he had taken a keen interest in spiritual matters, his talks with
holy men sharpening his inquisitive mind and kindling a spiritual fire. At the age of (34 he met
his Guru and three years later realized himself, taking the name of Nisargadatta. He continued to
live the life of an ordinary Indian working—man but his teachings, I which he set out in his
master-work I Am That and which are rooted in the ancient Upanishad tradition, made a significant
philosophical break from contemporary thought. Devotees traveled from all over the world to hear
Nisargadatta’s unique message until his death in 1981.

Introduction

The doctrinal philosophy of Advaita is characterized by the affirmation of the existence of a”sole
spiritual reality"." One may well ask:

What is the bearing of such a view of ultimate reality on our A everyday life? The most striking
feature of the latter is the conviction which it involves, viz. that diversity is real and
ultimate. The presupposition of most, if not all, of the activities of life is that one man is
different from another. The very efforts made through social and political organizations to unify
men imply that they regard themselves as distinct. If man is distinct from man, his distinction
from his physical environment is even clearer. It is not merely man that is distinct from matter;
matter itself, whether it serves as an adjunct of the self like the g physical body and the organs
of sense or as its environment seems to be diverse in its character, each object having its own
individuality. . . . It is obvious that, if monism is the truth, no part of this diversity can be
ultimate. That is the significance of the teaching.... so far as our common beliefs are concerned.

A little reflection will show that the significance of the teaching is even more radical. For if
there is only one reality, we must be identical with it! When Advaita is faced with the logical
necessity as well as the apparent implausibility of such a conclusion it appeals to a
life-transforming experience which enables one” to grasp the unity of experience directly—as
directly as he has grasped its diversity," on the principle “that a mediate knowledge of truth
cannot overcome an immediate illusion—that seeing alone is believing.

There is our ordinary experience of daily living. Advaita intrudes into it with the claim that an
extraordinary experience is possible in this life which can cause a Copernican revolution within
it. This transformation of ordinary experience by the Advaitin experience represents a claim so
astounding that on this basis alone it needs at least to be examined. But has anyone undergone
such an experience to make it accessible to investigation? Most Advaitins are agreed that the
modern Hindu sage Ramana (1879-1950) had undergone it. This view is shared by Nisargadatta
(1897-1981) about whom a similar claim has also been made. Thus Ramana may be said to be the chief
spokesman of experiential Advaita just as the philosopher Sankara (788-820) is looked upon as the
leading expositor of doctrinal Advaita.

This book attempts an exploration of experiential Advaita. Any such exploration must (1) begin
with a statement about the nature of ordinary or normal experience; (2) subject it to a suitable
critique; (3) if the critique is plausible, reformulate ordinary experience in the light of this
critique and, finally (4) compare its own putative experience of (ultimate) reality with ( our
daily experience of ordinary reality. Thus are the four chapters of the first part of the book
accounted for. The second part explores these issues further.

The term experience is an ambiguous one. It may refer to the experience of ordinary people like
you and me or of extraordinary people like Ramana and Nisargadatta. It may also refer not only to
the ordinary experiences of ordinary people and the extraordinary experiences of extraordinary
people but to the j extraordinary experiences of ordinary people and the ordinary experiences of
extraordinary people. Thus the discussion of experience raises two questions: wh0's experience and
which experience? Ambiguity is usually viewed negatively, but in the present context could it not
turn into something creative?

About the Book

The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta provides a clear, concise and precise introduction
to Advaita Vedanta, on the basis of something more powerful than argument, namely,
experience.

About the Author

A former member of the I.A.S., Arvind Sharma (B.A. Allahabad, 1958; M.A., Syracuse, 1970; M.T.S.
Harvard Divinity School, 1974; Ph. D. Harvard University, Montreal, Canada. He has also taught in
Australia (Brisbane and Sydney) and the United States (Philadelphia).

Dr. Sharma is a leading historian of religion and one of the most significant Hindu thinkers since
Radhakrishnan. His recent works include A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion as
author and Fragments of Infinity: Essays on Religion and Philosophy as editor.

This book is intended for those who have either a fleeting or nodding acquaintance with Hindu
thought or a curiosity about it, specially that part of it known as Advaita Vedanta, but have also
wondered whether this body of thought has anything to do with the daily experience of living. This
book makes the claim that-stripped bare of the Sanskrit language and the cultural idiom in which
it is expressed—this body of thought offers an analysis of life which bears a direct relevance to
our daily business of living. The relevance is in fact so direct that no Sanskrit word other than
Advaita itself may be required in expounding it, and no authority at all need be invoked in
elaborating it except that of experience; the experience of those of whom it may be claimed that
they have actually undergone the experience which the body of thought seeks to explore. In the
pages of this book the reader will encounter only five major terms or names with which the reader
may not already be familiar: Advaita Vedanta (Advaita for short); Sankara, Ramana and
Nisargadatta.

The word Vedanta refers to a body of texts which form the concluding section of the Hindu
scripture known as the Veda, just as the Revelation of St. ]ohn constitutes the concluding section
of the Bible. Advaita Vedanta indicates one of the many systematic philosophical expositions which
these texts have generated within Hinduism. This particular exposition, developed by the exegete
Sankara•—(788—820), upholds the conclusion that in the final analysis the ultimate reality about
the universe is a unity entirely indivisible and hence non-dual: this is the meaning of the word
Advaita. This non-dual reality can be directly experienced.

Ramana (1879-1950) and Nisargadatta (1897-1981) are two figures of modern India about whom it has
been claimed that an encounter with this reality made an "experience able difference" to their
lives. While Ramana is too well known to need an introduction, the life of Nisargadatta may be
presented in brief, as follows:
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was born in Bombay in 1897. His parents, who gave him the name Maruti,
had a small farm at the village of Kandalgaon and it was here that he spent his early years. In
1924 he married, later becoming a cigarette trader in Bombay where he and his wife raised a I
family. From early childhood he had taken a keen interest in spiritual matters, his talks with
holy men sharpening his inquisitive mind and kindling a spiritual fire. At the age of (34 he met
his Guru and three years later realized himself, taking the name of Nisargadatta. He continued to
live the life of an ordinary Indian working—man but his teachings, I which he set out in his
master-work I Am That and which are rooted in the ancient Upanishad tradition, made a significant
philosophical break from contemporary thought. Devotees traveled from all over the world to hear
Nisargadatta’s unique message until his death in 1981.

Introduction

The doctrinal philosophy of Advaita is characterized by the affirmation of the existence of a”sole
spiritual reality"." One may well ask:

What is the bearing of such a view of ultimate reality on our A everyday life? The most striking
feature of the latter is the conviction which it involves, viz. that diversity is real and
ultimate. The presupposition of most, if not all, of the activities of life is that one man is
different from another. The very efforts made through social and political organizations to unify
men imply that they regard themselves as distinct. If man is distinct from man, his distinction
from his physical environment is even clearer. It is not merely man that is distinct from matter;
matter itself, whether it serves as an adjunct of the self like the g physical body and the organs
of sense or as its environment seems to be diverse in its character, each object having its own
individuality. . . . It is obvious that, if monism is the truth, no part of this diversity can be
ultimate. That is the significance of the teaching.... so far as our common beliefs are concerned.

A little reflection will show that the significance of the teaching is even more radical. For if
there is only one reality, we must be identical with it! When Advaita is faced with the logical
necessity as well as the apparent implausibility of such a conclusion it appeals to a
life-transforming experience which enables one” to grasp the unity of experience directly—as
directly as he has grasped its diversity," on the principle “that a mediate knowledge of truth
cannot overcome an immediate illusion—that seeing alone is believing.

There is our ordinary experience of daily living. Advaita intrudes into it with the claim that an
extraordinary experience is possible in this life which can cause a Copernican revolution within
it. This transformation of ordinary experience by the Advaitin experience represents a claim so
astounding that on this basis alone it needs at least to be examined. But has anyone undergone
such an experience to make it accessible to investigation? Most Advaitins are agreed that the
modern Hindu sage Ramana (1879-1950) had undergone it. This view is shared by Nisargadatta
(1897-1981) about whom a similar claim has also been made. Thus Ramana may be said to be the chief
spokesman of experiential Advaita just as the philosopher Sankara (788-820) is looked upon as the
leading expositor of doctrinal Advaita.

This book attempts an exploration of experiential Advaita. Any such exploration must (1) begin
with a statement about the nature of ordinary or normal experience; (2) subject it to a suitable
critique; (3) if the critique is plausible, reformulate ordinary experience in the light of this
critique and, finally (4) compare its own putative experience of (ultimate) reality with ( our
daily experience of ordinary reality. Thus are the four chapters of the first part of the book
accounted for. The second part explores these issues further.

The term experience is an ambiguous one. It may refer to the experience of ordinary people like
you and me or of extraordinary people like Ramana and Nisargadatta. It may also refer not only to
the ordinary experiences of ordinary people and the extraordinary experiences of extraordinary
people but to the j extraordinary experiences of ordinary people and the ordinary experiences of
extraordinary people. Thus the discussion of experience raises two questions: wh0's experience and
which experience? Ambiguity is usually viewed negatively, but in the present context could it not
turn into something creative?

About the Book

The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta provides a clear, concise and precise introduction
to Advaita Vedanta, on the basis of something more powerful than argument, namely,
experience.

About the Author

A former member of the I.A.S., Arvind Sharma (B.A. Allahabad, 1958; M.A., Syracuse, 1970; M.T.S.
Harvard Divinity School, 1974; Ph. D. Harvard University, Montreal, Canada. He has also taught in
Australia (Brisbane and Sydney) and the United States (Philadelphia).

Dr. Sharma is a leading historian of religion and one of the most significant Hindu thinkers since
Radhakrishnan. His recent works include A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion as
author and Fragments of Infinity: Essays on Religion and Philosophy as editor.

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